France 32-3 Scotland: Les Bleus scythe through sorry Scots

France stormed to a dominant 32-3 victory against an over-matched Scotland to launch their Rugby World Cup preparations in emphatic style.

Jacques Brunel's side beat Scotland 27-10 in this season's Six Nations and this was an even more sapping experience for their visitors in Nice.

The damage was done by first-half tries from Alivereti Raka, Maxime Medard and Gregory Alldritt, with Medard adding a second before Antoine Dupont went over with an hour played.

Gregor Townsend's men host the same opponents next weekend at Murrayfield, where they will need to make a better start than the botched line-out that allowed Raka to gleefully charge over on the end of Wesley Fofana's second-minute pass.

Medard touched down in the corner to make it 15-0, Camille Lopez having dispatched his initial attempts from the tee.

Adam Hastings kicked Scotland's solitary points but was in the sin-bin when the France pack obliterated their opponents in a rolling maul, with Alldritt the beneficiary.

Francois Cros was the latest home player to tear through Scotland's meagre defensive efforts in the 54th minute, allowing Medard a gleeful run to the line.

Dupont benefitted from Damian Penaud's mazy run, with Lopez adding the extras before France eased to the close, giving Townsend plenty to think about before the sides reconvene in Edinburgh.

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Former Wales international Gareth Thomas has revealed that he is HIV positive and felt suicidal as he kept his diagnosis a secret for years.

Thomas said he contemplated driving off a cliff as he did not want it to be known he was suffering from the virus.

The 45-year-old, who played 100 times for his country, also revealed that blackmailers threatened to reveal his diagnosis before he made the announcement.

"I've been living with this secret for years," he told the Sunday Mirror.

"I've felt shame and keeping such a big secret has taken its toll.

"I had a fear people would judge me and treat me like a leper because of a lack of knowledge. I was in a dark place, feeling suicidal. I thought about driving off a cliff.

"To me, wanting to die was just a natural thought and felt like the easier way out, but you have to confront things.

"And having a strong support system and the personal strength and experience of overcoming those emotions got me through it.

"Many people live in fear and shame of having HIV, but I refuse to be one of them now. We need to break the stigma once and for all. I'm speaking out because I want to help others and make a difference."

Thomas added in a video posted on his Twitter account: "I want to share my secret with you. Why? Because it's mine to tell you. Not the evils that made my life hell, threatening to tell you before I do.

"And because I believe in you and I trust you. I'm living with HIV. Now you have that information, that makes me extremely vulnerable but it does not make me weak.

"Now even though I've been forced to tell you this, I choose to fight, to educate and to break the stigma around this subject."

Steve Hansen insisted the All Blacks were embracing the pressure of trying to win a third straight Rugby World Cup.

New Zealand made history by becoming the first nation to win the tournament back-to-back when they clinched the title in England in 2015.

Aiming for a hat-trick in Japan, Hansen said it was something the All Blacks – who begin their campaign against South Africa on Saturday – were excited about.

"It's extremely exciting. Trying to do things that no one else has ever done before is a hallmark of what New Zealand people are about," he told a news conference.

"We came away from the home shores and settled in a country at the bottom of the Earth. We had to find ways to live in isolation. You know, life wasn't like it is today so they've become pioneers and I think that's really important in anything.

"In life, particularly in sport, you've got to strive to be leaders rather than followers and we get an opportunity that no one else at the tournament gets.

"We can either shy away from that or get really excited by it and we're excited by it."

The All Blacks will go into the tournament as favourites and are in Pool B alongside South Africa, Italy, Namibia and Canada.

Captain Kieran Read accepted there was pressure on his team, but he said they were welcoming it.

"Obviously there's pressure but I guess it's how you look at that pressure," he said.

"You know, whether that's something to overcome you or you walk towards that and you actually enjoy that so we wouldn't be sitting here as a part of this tournament if we didn't relish these opportunities to play at that highest level.

"And the World Cup is the highest level. It's what you want to do when you pick up this game and play for your country so look, we walk towards that expectation and we really relish it so that's what we're hoping to do this tournament."

Lyon and Bordeaux Begles continued their blistering unbeaten starts to the Top 14 season as defending champions Toulouse stumbled again.

Both Lyon and Bordeaux went into Saturday's fixtures on the back of three straight wins and duly extended their streaks to four in some style.

Full-back Toby Arnold scored three of Lyon's nine tries in a 59-3 thumping of Brive while Bordeaux put Stade Francais to the sword 52-3.

Toulouse, meanwhile, finished with 14 men in their 28-13 loss at La Rochelle, which made it three defeats from four to start their title defence.

They trailed only 9-6 at the break but Wiaan Liebenberg and Arthur Retiere went over for La Rochelle before Werner Kok's red card on his Toulouse full debut for striking Jules Favre with his forearm effectively put the match beyond doubt.

Last season's runners-up Clermont Auvergne were boosted by the presence of Morgan Parra for the first time since May but suffered their second consecutive defeat, losing 37-28 at home to Pau, for whom Colin Slade tallied 20 points.

Promoted Bayonne saw off Castres 27-17 thanks predominantly to the boot of Brandon Fajardo, who kicked four penalties and a conversion for the Basque side.